Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively referred to as the Antarctic Treaty System, update international relations with respect to Antarctica. For the purposes of the Antarctic Treaty, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves located south of latitude 60°S without affecting rights over the high seas existing there. The treaty was signed in Washington D.C., United States, on December 1, 1959, and entered into force on June 23, 1961, upon deposit of the last of the ratification instruments of the twelve original signatories. The federal government of the United States is the depositary of the treaty, while the permanent headquarters of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty has been located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since its creation in 2004.

The original signatories were: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the United States, France, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the Soviet Union, but the treaty left the door open to any member of the United Nations Organization, or another state invited by all the consultative signatories. Since its signing, the number of signatories grew to a total of fifty-six in February 2023, but only twenty-nine of them have the status of "consultative members", which gives them full decision-making rights. The remaining twenty-five are considered "non-consultative members", for which they do not enjoy the right to vote.

The treaty is valid indefinitely and has not been amended. It can be modified unanimously by the consultative members or —after thirty years of validity— by the majority of members present at a conference called for that purpose in which non-consultative members can participate.

Antarctic Treaty System

The agreements that make up the Antarctic Treaty System are:

• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Focas: (CCFA), was opened for signature from 1 June to 31 December 1972 for the States participating in the Conference on the Protection of Antarctic Focas. It has been in force since 11 March 1978. It applies to the sea south of the 60th latitude south;
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCRVMA), signed in Canberra since 1 August 1980 and in force since 7 April 1982. It is applied to the south of an artificial line of Antarctic Convergence, which is considered to be constituted by a line that unites the following points along parallels and meridians: 50°S, 0°; 50°S, 30°E; 45°S, 30°E; 45°S, 80°E; 55°S, 80°E; 55°S, 150°E; 60°S, 150°E; 60°S;
• Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on the Protection of the EnvironmentMadrid Protocol or Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty), signed in Madrid on 4 October 1991 and in force since 14 January 1998.

The Madrid Protocol can only be signed by members of the Antarctic Treaty and its area of validity coincides with it, but the two conventions are independent agreements to the Antarctic Treaty. However, both conventions contain provisions that represent a commitment by the parties to essential aspects of the Antarctic Treaty. The CCFA states in its scope that This Convention applies to the sea south of 60° South Latitude, with respect to which the Contracting Parties affirm the provisions of Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty. While the CCAMLR states in Article III: the Contracting Parties, whether or not they are Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, agree that they will not engage in any activity in the Antarctic Treaty area contrary to the purposes and principles of the Antarctic Treaty, and agree that, in their relations with each other, are bound by the obligations contained in articles I and V of the Antarctic Treaty. In its article IV.1 it states: the Contracting Parties have the obligation to obey articles IV and VI of the Antarctic Treaty in what refers to their relations with each other. In addition, its Article V states: that the Contracting Parties that are not Parties to the Antarctic Treaty recognize the special obligations and responsibilities of the Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty in terms of protection and preservation of the environment in the Antarctic Treaty area. In addition, said Contracting Parties agree to respect the measures agreed by the ATCMs for the protection of the Antarctic environment.

There was also another agreement called Agreed Measures for the Conservation of the Antarctic Flora and Fauna, which was agreed at the third Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Brussels in 1964, as recommendation number VIII. This agreement was ratified by 21 member countries of the Antarctic Treaty and lost force on July 1, 2011 by decision of the Buenos Aires ATCM. Another agreement was the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources Activities (CRAMRA), signed in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 2, 1988 by 19 countries, but not ratified by any and later replaced by the Madrid Protocol of 1991.

Background

The incidents

From August 26, 1946 until the beginning of 1947, Operation Highjump was carried out, the largest expeditionary military force that the United States has sent to Antarctica to date, made up of 13 ships, 4,700 men and numerous aircraft. One of its objectives was to train military personnel and test material in conditions of extreme cold for an eventual war in the Arctic.

Some incidents had occurred during World War II and a new one occurred in Esperanza Bay on February 1, 1952, when Argentine soldiers fired warning shots at a group of British soldiers. The UK's response was to send a warship which landed marines on the spot on 4 February. This came, however, after Argentina, Chile and the UK signed a Tripartite Naval Declaration in 1949 committing themselves to not to send warships south of the 60th parallel south, which was renewed annually until 1961 when it was considered unnecessary when the treaty entered into force. This tripartite declaration was signed after the tension generated when Argentina sent to Antarctica in February from 1948 a fleet of 8 warships.

On January 17, 1953, Argentina reopened the Teniente Lasala refuge on Deception Island, leaving a sergeant and a corporal of the Argentine Navy there. On February 15, in the Deception Island incident, 32 Royal Marines landed from the British frigate HMS Snipe armed with Sten machine guns, rifles and tear gas, capturing the two Argentine sailors. The Argentine refuge and a nearby uninhabited Chilean refuge were destroyed and the Argentine sailors were handed over to an Argentine ship on February 18 in the South Georgia Islands. A British detachment remained on the island for three months while the frigate patrolled its waters until April.

On May 4, 1955, the United Kingdom filed two lawsuits, against Argentina and Chile respectively, before the International Court of Justice for it to declare the sovereignty claims of the two countries over Antarctic and sub-Antarctic areas invalid. On July 15, 1955, the Chilean Government rejected the jurisdiction of the Court in that case and on August 1, the Argentine Government also did so, so on March 16, 1956, the claims were filed.

Road to treaty

Investigation stations and territories claimed in Antarctica (2002)

On September 2, 1947, the American quadrant of Antarctica (between 24°W and 90°W) was included as part of the security zone of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, committing its members to defend it in case of aggression external.

In August 1948, the United States proposed that Antarctica be placed under United Nations trusteeship in the form of a trust fund administered by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, but the idea was rejected. by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France and Norway. Faced with the rejection, on August 28, 1948, the United States proposed to the claimants some form of internationalization of Antarctica, with the support of the United Kingdom. Chile responded by presenting a plan to suspend all Antarctic claims for 5 to 10 years while a final solution was negotiated, which did not prosper. The interest of the United States in keeping the Soviet Union away from Antarctica was frustrated when in 1950 this country informed the claimants that it would not accept any Antarctic agreement in which it was not represented. The fear that the USSR would react by making a territorial claim shifting the Cold War to Antarctica, led the United States to make none. In 1956 and 1958 India tried unsuccessfully to bring the Antarctic question to the United Nations General Assembly.

In 1950 the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) discussed the possibility of holding a third International Polar Year. At the suggestion of the World Meteorological Organization, the idea of the International Polar Year was extended to the entire planet, thus creating the International Geophysical Year that took place between July 1, 1957 and December 31, 1958 and in which 66 countries participated.. At the ICSU meeting in Stockholm from September 9 to 11, 1957, the creation of a Special Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) was approved, inviting the twelve countries that carried out Antarctic research to send delegates to integrate the committee, with the purpose of exchanging scientific information among its members regarding Antarctica. SCAR was later renamed the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research.

The Negotiation

Both Argentina and Chile stated that carrying out research during the International Geophysical Year would not give any territorial rights to the participants and that the facilities that were erected during that year had to be dismantled at the end of the year. After the United States proposed extending the Antarctic investigations for another year, in February 1958 the Soviet Union announced that it would maintain its scientific bases until the investigations carried out in them were completed. This increase in international tension regarding Antarctica, and the danger of the Cold War spreading to that continent, led the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, to convene an Antarctic Conference for the twelve active countries in Antarctica. Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year, in order to sign a treaty. In the first phase, representatives of the twelve countries met in Washington, who met in 60 sessions from June 1958 to October 1959, in order to define the basic framework for negotiation, but no consensus was reached on a preliminary draft.. In the second phase, a conference of the highest diplomatic level was held from October 15 to December 1, 1959, the date the treaty was signed. The central ideas with wide acceptance were the freedom of scientific research in Antarctica and the peaceful use of the continent, but there was also a consensus on its demilitarization and the maintenance of the status quo.

The positions of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and New Zealand coincided in the establishment of an international administration for Antarctica, proposing the last one to be within the framework of the United Nations. Australia and the United Kingdom expressed the need for observer inspections and the latter proposed the use of military means for logistical functions. Argentina proposed that all atomic explosions be prohibited in Antarctica, which caused a crisis that lasted until the eve of the signing, since the United States, together with other countries, tried to prohibit only those that were made without prior notice and without prior consultation. The support of the USSR and Chile for the Argentine proposal finally unlocked the opposition of the United States.

The signing of the treaty was the first arms control agreement that occurred in the framework of the Cold War and the claimant countries managed to avoid the internationalization of Antarctic sovereignty.

Provisions of the Antarctic Treaty

The treaty consists of a preamble and fourteen articles, it was written in Spanish, French, English and Russian.

The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.

Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica continues to be used always exclusively for peaceful purposes and that it does not become a scenario or object of international discord;
Recognizing the importance of contributions to scientific knowledge as a result of international cooperation in scientific research in Antarctica;
Convinced that the establishment of a solid basis for the continuation and development of such cooperation, founded on the freedom of scientific research in Antarctica, as applied during the International Geophysical Year, is consistent with the interests of science and the progress of all humanity.
Convinced also that a Treaty that ensures the use of Antarctica exclusively for peaceful purposes and the continuation of international harmony in Antarctica will promote the purposes and principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations,

They agreed on the following:

Preamble

Summary of the article

• Article 1 — Exclusive use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes, prohibition of any military action, except to collaborate with scientific research. Tests of any kind of weapons are prohibited.
• Article 2 - Freedom of scientific research in Antarctica and continuity of cooperation as in the International Geophysical Year of 1957.
• Article 3 — Commitment to exchange of information on the projects of scientific programmes in Antarctica, scientific personnel and free availability of scientific observations and results.
• Article 4 — No provision of the treaty shall be interpreted as waiver or impairment or as detrimental to the rights of territorial sovereignty or to the territorial claims in the Antarctic, previously declared. No activity carried out while the treaty is in force will serve to assert, create, support or deny a claim for territorial sovereignty. The expansion or creation of new claims of territorial sovereignty in the Antarctic is prohibited as long as the treaty lasts.
• Article 5 - Prohibition of any nuclear explosion in Antarctica or disposal of radioactive waste, except that they are established in international agreements to which advisory members are a party.
• Article 6 — Scope of application of the treaty in the region south of 60° south latitude, including all ice barriers but not the high seas.
• Article 7 — Right of advisory members to appoint observers with complete freedom of access, at any time, to all regions of Antarctica. Obligation to open all facilities, equipment, ships and aircraft in Antarctica to observers. Obligation to inform beforehand about any expedition to the Antarctic in which a member state participates, or those that pass through the territories of each signatory, of any military personnel or equipment that is introduced in the Antarctic and to report on the facilities they occupy.
• Article 8 — Extraterritoriality of observers, exchanged scientific personnel and their companions, who in terms of their actions shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the contracting party of which they are nationals. It is encouraged to find dialogued solutions in any dispute in these matters.
• Article 9 — Prescription of regular meetings of the representatives of the consultative members, the first being in Canberra within two months of the entry into force. In order to exchange information, consult, formulate, consider and recommend to Governments measures to promote the principles and objectives of the treaty and receive the reports of observers. The member states do not participate in the meetings until they acquire consultative status by establishing a research station or sending a scientific expedition. Animity of decisions at meetings for their implementation.
• Article 10 — Commitment of signatories to make appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to ensure that no one conducts in Antarctica any activity contrary to the purposes and principles of the treaty.
• Article 11 - Resolution of disputes regarding the interpretation or application of the treaty through consultations, negotiation, investigation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial decision or other peaceful means. For what is not resolved, I submit to the International Court of Justice, if the parties accept it.
• Article 12 — Amendment or amendment of the treaty unanimously by the advisory members at any time, after notification of the last ratification. For the adherents, it will enter into force at the time when they notify their ratification, considering that they renounced the treaty if they do not do so within two years of the entry into force for the consultatives. After 30 years of validity, the treaty can be revised at the conference of all signatories if requested by one of the advisory members. Any amendment adopted at that conference should have a majority of votes, including a majority of votes from the consultative members, entering into force in the same way as in the regular form. In this case, after 2 years the treaty may be waived, but from 2 years of communication.
• Article 13 — The treaty must be ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedures of the signatory states. Any member of the United Nations or other guest may be joined by all consultative members. Instruments of ratification and accession shall be deposited with the Government of the United States of America, which shall inform others of the dates of deposit of each ratification, accession, entry into force, modification or amendment of the treaty. The treaty enters into force by depositing all instruments of ratification of the signatories, including those that acceded before that time. Then, it will enter into force for any adherent upon depositing your instrument of accession. The treaty shall be registered by the depositary Government under Article 103 of the Charter of the United Nations.
• Article 14 — The languages of the treaty are English, French, Russian and Spanish. The Government of the United States of America will send certified copies to signatories and adherents.

Except New Zealand, the other original signatories made declarations or reservations to the treaty.

Freezing disputes over territorial sovereignty

With the signing of the treaty, the territorial disputes of sovereignty in Antarctica have lost all potential danger of generating incidents or warlike conflicts. The commitment of the signatories not to carry out any military activity in Antarctica for purposes other than to cooperate with scientific research, as well as the spirit of the treaty regarding dialogue and cooperation, have generated what is frequently designated as freezing of Antarctic disputes. The necessary unanimity to modify the treaty guarantees the claimant States that they will be able to preserve all their rights indefinitely without being undermined by any other State, while the non-claimant States are guaranteed the exercise of their rights without Antarctica being divided up for the duration. the treaty.

Regarding territorial sovereignty over Antarctica, the treaty safeguards the opinions of the 3 groups of the 12 original signatory states: 1) those that previously declared their sovereignty over part of Antarctica (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, New Zealand and the United Kingdom); 2) those who were considered to have a basis for claiming territorial sovereignty in Antarctica (United States and the Soviet Union); 3) those that did not recognize any State the right to claim or have a basis for claiming sovereignty in Antarctica (Belgium, Japan and South Africa).

Regarding the territorial claims proclaimed prior to the signing of the treaty by 7 of the original signatories, it stipulates that no provision thereof shall be construed as a waiver or impairment of the rights or foundations of territorial sovereignty in Antarctica asserted by they. It also establishes that no act or activity carried out while the treaty is in force shall constitute grounds for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica, nor for creating sovereign rights in that region. The treaty does not suspend or freeze territorial sovereignty claims in Antarctica, but rather maintains the status quo existing at the time of its signing, preserving the positions of all parties. What has been frozen is the dispute in all areas. The claimant States can continue negotiating their territorial differences among themselves, but they cannot expand them, nor will a new one be accepted while the article that prohibits it is in force. Notwithstanding this, when Ecuador joined in 1987, it reserved its territorial rights to a sector of Antarctica over which it had proclaimed sovereignty in 1967 using the theory of confrontation.

The treaty allows the claimant States to preserve their titles of sovereignty and exercise this, with the limitations that their signature imposed, in all aspects that the treaty does not expressly regulate, even if other states do not recognize them, that is why countries such as Argentina, Australia and Chile consider their territorial claims in Antarctica as integral sovereign parts of their respective territories. While the treaty mentions previously asserted territorial sovereignty claims, it neither recognizes them as valid nor dismisses them.

Representatives signing the treaty

Signatures of the Antarctic Treaty

• Argentina: Adolfo Scilingo, Francisco Bello
• Commonwealth of Australia: Howard Beale
• Kingdom of Belgium: Obert de Thieusies
• Republic of Chile: Marcial Mora Miranda, Enrique Gajardo, Julio Escudero Guzmán
• French Republic: Pierre Charpentier
• State of Japan: Koichiro Asakai, Takeso Shimoda
• New Zealand: G. D. L. White
• Kingdom of Norway: Paul Koht
• South African Republic: Wentzel C. du Plessis
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Vasili V. Kuznetsov
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Harold Caccia
• United States of America: Herman Phleger, Paul C. Daniels

Antarctica Management Organizations

The "management" of Antarctica, which actually doesn't exist at all due to the international legal situation, is essentially absorbed by two organizations:

• the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) which unites all scientific institutions in the world with interest in Antarctica and coordinates scientific research. The SCAR was established during the International Geophysical Year and continues to implement the agreements that were made at that time;
• the Council of National Antarctic Programme Administrators (COMNAP) which coordinates the activities of the authorities responsible for national Antarctic programmes.

Attempts have been made since the mid-1980s to establish a secretariat for the Antarctic Treaty System, but some countries feared it would lead to an Antarctic form of government or bureaucracy. The host countries of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) have established Internet sites in the 1990s to publicize the results of the consultative meetings. The Antarctic Treaty System did not have a permanent institution until 1 September 2004 when the Cape Town ATCM created the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty is an organization created to handle various tasks, such as the organization of the annual meetings of the signatories of the treaty or the publication of the annual report. Other activities include supporting the sessions of the Committee for Environmental Protection, increasing communication between the signatories of the treaty, as well as the collection, archiving and distribution of information.

The first executive secretary was the Dutchman Johannes Huber, who held the position until August 31, 2009, when he was succeeded by the German Manfred Reinke, who was elected by the April 2009 consultative meeting in Baltimore.

Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings

Following the 1959 Antarctic Conference, 44 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) have been held from 1961 to 2022. Since 1998, these meetings have been held in conjunction with meetings of the Committee for Environmental Protection, of of which 17 were held. Another 28 special Antarctic Treaty consultative meetings were held in various parts of the world, the last in 2000. There have also been 10 expert meetings and 4 diplomatic conferences.

Consultative meetings are attended by the following representatives:

• Of the 29 countries known as the "Consulting Parties".
• Of the 27 countries called "non-consulting parties".
• From the "observers." These are the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CCRVMA) and the Council of National Antarctic Programme Administrators (COMNAP).
• Guest. Like the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and the International Association of Tourist Operators in Antarctica (IAATO).

Only the Consultative Parties participate in decision-making. However, other meeting participants can contribute to the deliberations. Its resolutions are not legally binding, whereas the Measures are for the Consultative Parties, when they are adopted unanimously.

Consultative meetings were held in the following cities:

The corresponding 2023 will be held in Helsinki, Finland.

Members of the Antarctic Treaty and its system

Updated map to 16 October 2015Country with original consultative status, with territorial claimCountry with original consultative status that reserved the right to make a territorial claimCountry with consultative status, without territorial claimCountry without consultative statusNon-signatory country of the treaty

Of the 56 signatory countries, 29 of these are "consultative parties", forming a group made up of the original signatory countries and consultative adherents; all members of this group are consultative, having the right to speak and vote in treaty consultative meetings. Each of the remaining 27 countries that have adhered to the treaty is considered a "non-consultative party", they are invited to attend meetings but do not participate in decision-making as they only have a voice, but may become consultative if build an Antarctic base or conduct "important scientific research" in the region. Original signatories do not lose their consultative status if they do not conduct scientific research.

Signatory country	Original sign	Date of accession	Date of consultative status	Environmental Protocol	Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Focas (CCFA)	Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CCAMLR) (*7)	Territorial claims, rights reservations and possessions
GermanyGermany	No.	19 November 1974 (Democratic Republic of Germany)(*1) 5 February 1979 (Federal Republic of Germany)	3 March 1981 (West) 5 October 1987 (Oriental)	14 January 1998	accession: 30 September 1987 (Federal Republic of Germany)	Signature	(Toma of possession for Germany by Ritscher in 1939 in New Suabia. Not claimed by Germany)
Argentina	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 7 March 1978	Signature	Department of Antarctica Argentina (Declaration of rights in Argentina) 1906 and 1940. Formal claim 1927. Delimitation in 1942, 1946 and 1957. Take of possession by Oddera en 1942). Southern Orchestra Islands of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (Permanent occupation in the 1904. Formal claim 1906, 1925 and 1927. Delimitation in 1970(Incorporated to the Argentine Antarctic Department on 27 October 2017)
Australia	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 1 July 1987	Signature	Australian Antarctic Territory (UK possessions: Ross in 1841Mawson in 1930 and twice in 1931. Transfer of rights to Australia and formal claim 1933)
AustriaAustria	No.	25 August 1987	No.	26 August 2021	No.	No.	No.
BelgiumBelgium	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 9 February 1978	Signature	No.
BelarusBelarus	No.	27 December 2006	No.	15 August 2008	No.	No.	No.
BrazilBrazil	No.	16 May 1975	27 September 1983	14 January 1998	accession: 11 February 1991	Signature	It reserved the right to protect its interests in Antarctica if the treaty is revised (1987)
BulgariaBulgaria	No.	11 September 1978	5 June 1998	21 May 1998	No.	adhesive	No.
CanadaCanada	No.	4 May 1988	No.	13 December 2003	accession: 4 October 1990	adhesive	No.
ChileChile	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 7 February 1980	Signature	Chilean Antarctic Territory (Declaration of Rights in 1906. Formal claim 1940)
ChinaChina	No.	8 June 1983	7 October 1985	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	No.
ColombiaColombia	No.	31 January 1989	No.	14 March 2020	No.	No.	No.
North KoreaNorth Korea	No.	21 January 1987	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
South KoreaSouth Korea	No.	28 November 1986	9 October 1989	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	No.
Costa RicaCosta Rica	No.	11 August 2022	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
CubaCuba	No.	16 August 1984	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
DenmarkDenmark	No.	20 May 1965	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
EcuadorEcuador	No.	15 September 1987	19 November 1990	14 January 1998	No.	No.	He declared his rights to sector 84°30'O-96°30'O according to the theory of defrontation in 1967. Formal claim 1987)
Slovakia Slovakia	No.	1 January 1993 (*3)	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
SloveniaSlovenia	No.	22 April 2019	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
SpainSpain	No.	31 March 1982	21 September 1988	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	No.
United States	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 19 January 1977	Signature	It reserved all its rights over Antarctica, including to claim territories (1934, 1958(Tomes of possession for the United States: Gould in 1929 on the Land of Marie Byrd, Ellsworth in 1935 in the Land of Ellsworth and 1939 on the Amery ice barrier. Not claimed by the United States)
EstoniaEstonia	No.	17 May 2001	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
FinlandFinland	No.	15 May 1984	20 October 1989	14 January 1998	No.	adhesive	No.
France	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	acceptance: 19 February 1975	Signature	Tierra Adelia (Toma of possession for France by D'Urville in 1840. Formal claim 1924 and delimitation 1938)
GreeceGreece	No.	8 January 1987	No.	14 January 1998	No.	adhesive	No.
GuatemalaGuatemala	No.	31 July 1991	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
HungaryHungary	No.	27 January 1984	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
India	No.	19 August 1983	12 September 1983	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	No.
IcelandIceland	No.	13 October 2015	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
ItalyItaly	No.	18 March 1981	5 October 1987	14 January 1998	accession: 2 April 1992	Signature	No.
JapanJapan	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	acceptance: 28 August 1980	Signature	Relinquishment of any territorial law by subparagraph e of article 2 of the San Francisco Treaty 1951
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan	No.	27 January 2015	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
MalaysiaMalaysia	No.	31 October 2011	No.	14 September 2016	No.	No.	No.
MonacoMonaco	No.	31 May 2008	No.	31 July 2009	No.	No.	No.
Mongolia	No.	23 March 2015	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
Norway Norway	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 10 December 1973	Signature	Land of Queen Maud (Formal reclassification in 1939). Pedro I Island (Toma of possession for Norway by Olstad in 1929. Formal claim 1931). (Take possession of the polar plateau by Amundsen in 1911not claimed by Norway.
New ZealandNew Zealand	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	No (*6)	Signature	Ross Unit (UK possession by Ross twice in 1841. United Kingdom formal claim 1923. Transfer to New Zealand in 1947 for independence)
NetherlandsNetherlands	No.	30 March 1967 (*4)	19 November 1990	14 January 1998	No.	adhesive	No.
PakistanPakistan	No.	1 March 2012	No.	31 March 2012	No.	adhesive	No.
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea	No.	16 March 1981 (*5)	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
Peru Peru	No.	10 April 1981	9 October 1989	14 January 1998	No.	adhesive	He stated that it promotes the validity of an international regime without detriment of its rights (1979 and 1993). Reserved rights 1981.
PolandPoland	No.	23 June 1961	29 July 1977	14 January 1998	accession: 15 August 1980	Signature	No.
Portugal	No.	29 January 2010	No.	10 October 2014	No.	No.	No.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 10 September 1974	Signature	British Antarctic Territory (UK possessions: Smith in 1819Bransfield twice in 1820Powell in 1821Foster in 1829, Biscoe en 1832 and Ross in 1843. Formal claim 1905, delimitation in 1908and 1917)
Czech RepublicCzech Republic	No.	1 January 1993 (*3)	1 April 2014	24 September 2004	No.	No.	No.
Romania Romania	No.	15 September 1971	No.	5 March 2003	No.	No.	No.
Russia Russia	23 June 1961 (such as USSR (*2))	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 8 February 1978 (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) - continuation: 14 January 1992 (Russia)	Signature	He reserved rights based on the discoveries of Russian sailors, even to claim territories (1939, 1958)
San Marino	No.	14 February 2023	No.	No.	No.	No.	No.
South Africa	23 June 1961	-	23 June 1961	14 January 1998	ratification: 15 August 1972	Signature	No.
Sweden Sweden	No.	24 April 1984	21 September 1988	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	No.
SwitzerlandSwitzerland	No.	15 November 1990	No.	1 June 2017	No.	No.	No.
TurkeyTurkey	No.	24 January 1996	No.	27 October 2017	No.	No.	No.
Ukraine Ukraine	No.	28 October 1992	4 June 2004	24 June 2001	No.	Signature	No.
Uruguay Uruguay	No.	11 January 1980	7 October 1985	14 January 1998	No.	Signature	It reserved its rights in Antarctica, in accordance with international law (1980)
Venezuela Venezuela	No.	24 March 1999	No.	31 August 2014	No.	No.	No.

(*1) German Democratic Republic (GDR) was integrated into the German Federal Republic (West Germany) on 3 October 1990.
(*2) Russia assumed the rights of the Soviet Union as it disappeared on December 25th 1991which was communicated by note on 13 January 1992.
(*3) Czechoslovakia acceded on 14 June 1962 and disappeared as a country at midnight on 31 December 1992the Czech Republic and Slovakia were succeeded by the two countries resulting on 1 January 1993.
(*4) The instrument of NetherlandsThe Netherlands of access to the treaty states that access is for the Kingdom in Europe, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. SurinameSuriname became an independent state on 25 November 1975 and then he did not accede to the treaty.
(*5) Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea reported on 16 March 1981 that since the date of its independence on 16 September 1975it adhered to the treaty as a successor to Australia.
(*6) New ZealandNew Zealand signed the CCFA on 9 June 1972 But he never ratified it.
(*7) European Union and NamibiaNamibia are not part of the Antarctic Treaty but they signed CCAMLR, while Cook IslandsCook Islands, Mauritius, Panama Panama and VanuatuVanuatu are members of the CCAMLR that are not part of the treaty.

Countries not signatories to the treaty

Regarding the countries that are not signatories to the treaty, there are two theories in this regard: one states that the treaty has an erga omnes character, that is, that it is binding for everyone, and another which is not mandatory for countries that are not signatories. In any case, the treaty establishes the commitment of the signatories to make the appropriate efforts to prevent someone from carrying out an activity contrary to the purposes and principles of the treaty.

In 1987, the non-governmental organization Greenpeace established the World Park summer base at Cape Evans on Ross Island to pressure the Antarctic Treaty countries to declare Antarctica a world park. Greenpeace closed and completely dismantled the base in 1992, receiving no assistance from treaty parties.

Pakistan inaugurated the Jinnah Antarctic Base on January 25, 1991, and acceded to the Antarctic Treaty on March 1, 2012.